Electronic devices with flexible displays having fastened bent edges

ABSTRACT

An electronic device may be provided with a display having a flexible substrate with fastened bent edges. The flexible substrate may have an active region that includes an array of light-emitting elements such as organic light-emitting diodes. The flexible substrate may also have inactive regions that lie outside of the active region. The bent edges may include portions of the inactive regions and portions of the active region. The bent edges may be wrapped to conform to the shape of an internal support structure. The bent edges may be fastened to the support structure with fastening members that attach a housing member or an internal clamp to the support structure. The bent edges may be secured between the housing member or the internal clamp and the support structure. The fastening members may be engaged in openings in the support structure and may pass through or alongside the bent edges.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/802,318, filed Nov. 2, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/016,772, filed Feb. 5, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No.9,817,444, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/247,124, filed Apr. 7, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,256,250, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/452,061, filed Apr.20, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,724,304, all of which are herebyincorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

This relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly, todisplays for electronic devices.

Electronic devices such as portable computers and cellular telephonesare often provided with rigid displays made from rigid displaystructures. Rigid display structures often include a significant amountof inactive border area for around the display for accommodating displaycircuitry for operating display pixels in an active region of thedisplay. It is not uncommon for the width of the inactive border to beup to a centimeter wide or more. This type of wide inactive region tendsto make displays bulky and requires the use of electronic devicehousings with wide bezels.

Flexible display technologies are available that allow displays to beflexed. In a typical flexible display, an array of light-emitting diodessuch as organic light-emitting diodes may form a planar active displayregion on a flexible substrate. Inactive edge portions of the flexiblesubstrate are sometimes bent away from the plane of the active region.However, a flexible substrate with bent edges can have a tendency toreturn to its original flat shape. This tendency can cause a bentportion to become separated from a mounting structure to which it isadhered or to exert an undesired force on another component or structurein the electronic device.

It would therefore be desirable to be able to minimize the width of theinactive region in a display and to otherwise improve displays forelectronic devices.

SUMMARY

An electronic device may be provided that has a display such as aflexible display. Flexible displays may include organic light-emittingdiode (OLED) displays. OLED displays contain display pixels that canproduce illumination without using a separate backlight unit.

A flexible display may include a flexible light-emitting diode layerwith bent edges. The flexible light-emitting diode layer may include aflexible sheet of polymer or other flexible substrate. An array oflight-emitting diodes such as organic light-emitting diodes may form aplanar active region on the flexible substrate.

The flexible display may be mounted to a rigid support structure such asa mandrel. The mandrel may be formed from aluminum, copper, plastic,glass, or other suitable rigid materials or combinations of materials.

The bent edges of the flexible display may be wrapped around an edge ofthe mandrel. The bent edges of the flexible display may be fastened tothe mandrel in a bent position using a mounting structure that isattached to the mandrel. The bent edges of the display may be interposedbetween the mounting structure and the mandrel.

The mounting structure may be formed from aluminum, copper, plastic,glass, or other suitable rigid materials. The mounting structure mayinclude a portion of a housing for the device or may be a standalonestructure such as an internal clamping member. The mounting structuremay be attached to the mandrel using screws, clips, adhesive or anyother suitable fastening member so that the bent edges of the flexibledisplay are secured between the mandrel and the mounting structure.

Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantageswill be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device suchas a laptop computer with a display in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device suchas a handheld electronic device with a display in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device suchas a tablet computer with a display in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of illustrative structuresincluding a carrier structure and a support structure for fastening bentedges of a flexible display to the support structure using a portion ofa device housing in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional perspective view an illustrative assembledelectronic device having a flexible display with fastened bent edges inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of the electronic device of FIG. 5showing how bent edges of a flexible display may be wrapped around asupport structure with a bend radius in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of the electronic device of FIG. 5showing how a support structure such as a mandrel may have a cavity formounting internal components in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an illustrativeelectronic device having a display with bent edges that are fastened toa support structuring using an internal fastening structure inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of illustrative assembly equipment that maybe used in fastening the bent edges of a flexible display to a supportstructure in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing how the assembly equipment of FIG. 9 may bemoved to fasten the bent edges of a flexible display to a supportstructure in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in fastening thebent edges of a flexible display to a support structure in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an illustrative diagram showing how a bent portion of aflexible display that is fastened between a housing member and aninternal support member may conform to the shape of a curved portion ofthe internal support member and an additional planar support member inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an illustrative diagram showing how a bent portion of aflexible display may be fastened between a housing member and multipleinternal support members in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention

FIG. 14 is an illustrative diagram showing how a bent portion of aflexible display that is fastened between a housing member and aninternal support member may conform to the shape of a curved portion ofthe internal support member and a curved portion of an additionalsupport member in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Electronic devices may include displays. Displays may be used to displayvisual information such as text and images to users. Displays such asflexible displays may include organic light-emitting diode (OLED)displays.

A flexible display may include a flexible organic light-emitting diodelayer with bent edges. The bent edges of the display may be fastened toa support structure in the electronic device. The bent edges of thedisplay may include active display pixels or may be devoid of activedisplay pixels. The bent edges may include circuitry for routing signalsto the active display pixels in the bent edges or in other activedisplay portions of the display.

Illustrative electronic devices that may be provided with displays areshown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. FIG. 1 shows how electronic device 10 mayhave the shape of a laptop computer having upper housing 12A and lowerhousing 12B with components such as keyboard 16 and touchpad 18.

FIG. 2 shows how electronic device 10 may be a handheld device such as acellular telephone, music player, gaming device, navigation unit, orother compact device.

FIG. 3 shows how electronic device 10 may be a tablet computer. However,the examples of FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 are merely illustrative examples.Electronic devices such as illustrative electronic device 10 of FIGS. 1,2, and 3 may be laptop computers, computer monitors with embeddedcomputers, tablet computers, cellular telephones, media players, otherhandheld and portable electronic devices, smaller devices such aswrist-watch devices, pendant devices, headphone and earpiece devices,other wearable and miniature devices, or other electronic equipment.

Device 10 may have a housing enclosure such as housing 12. Housing 12,which is sometimes referred to as a case or enclosure, may be formed ofmaterials such as plastic, glass, ceramics, carbon-fiber composites andother composites, metal, aluminum, other materials, or a combination ofthese materials. Device 10 may be formed using a unibody construction inwhich most or all of housing 12 is formed from a single structuralelement (e.g., a piece of machined metal or a piece of molded plastic)or may be formed from multiple housing structures (e.g., outer housingstructures that have been mounted to internal frame elements or otherinternal housing structures).

Device 10 may have one or more displays such as display 14. Display 14may be an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display or other suitabledisplay. Display layer 14 may include display pixels formed fromlight-emitting diodes (LEDs), organic LEDs (OLEDs), plasma cells,electronic ink elements, liquid crystal display (LCD) components, orother suitable display pixel structures compatible with flexibledisplays. Display 14 may, if desired, include capacitive touch sensorelectrodes for a capacitive touch sensor array or other touch sensorstructures (i.e., display 14 may be a touch screen). Touch sensorelectrodes may be provided on a touch panel layer that is interposedbetween an organic light-emitting diode display layer and a transparentcover layer (e.g., a cover glass layer), may be formed on the undersideof a cover layer, or may otherwise be incorporated into display 14.

The display (sometimes referred to as the display layer, the OLEDdisplay, the flexible display or flexible OLED display) may have aplanar rectangular active region in its center. The edges of the organiclight-emitting diode display surround the active center region and forma rectangular peripheral ring. This border region may contain circuitrythat does not emit light and is therefore referred to as the inactiveportion of the display. The inactive portion of the display is shown asinactive border region 20 in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3.

To enhance device aesthetics, the width of inactive border region 20that is visible from the front of the display may be minimized bybending portions of the flexible display downwards at an angle away fromthe planar central region into the device (e.g., along the boundarybetween the active region and the inactive region). For example, theedges of the flexible display may be folded (wrapped) so that they lieperpendicular to the plane of the active region or so that they liepartially underneath the plane of the active region.

When this type of arrangement is used, the width W of inactive borderregions 20 of devices 10 of FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 that is visible from thefront of display 14 is minimized. Any minimal edge portion of display 14that remains visible may be covered with a bezel or a portion of adisplay cover layer that is coated on its underside with an opaquemasking layer such as black ink (as examples). A bezel may be formed,for example, from a stand-alone bezel structure that is mounted tohousing 12, from a portion of housing 12 (e.g., a portion of thesidewalls of housing 12), or using other suitable structures.

If desired, the width of inactive border region 20 that is visible fromthe front of the display may be further minimized by including a portionof the active region of the display in the bent edges of the flexibledisplay. In this way, active display pixels in the flexible display maybe formed across substantially the entire front surface of device 10.When this type of arrangement is used, some of the active display pixelsof the flexible display may be covered by a portion of the devicehousing (e.g., a bezel portion of the device housing) and may not beused for displaying information to a user.

In some situations a portion of the bent edges of the flexible displaythat contain active display pixels to be used for displaying images to auser of device 10 may be curved away from the inner surface of a coverlayer such as a cover glass layer. In this type of arrangement, thecover glass layer may be provided with lensing capabilities (e.g., byattaching lenses to the cover glass layer or by forming lenses in thecover glass layer) to correct for optical distortions that may be causedby the separation between the active display pixels and the cover glasslayer.

An exploded perspective view of an illustrative electronic device havinga flexible display with fastened bent edges is shown in FIG. 4. As shownin FIG. 4, device 10 may include a flexible display 14 with first andsecond portions 14F and 14E that are separated by a bend such as bend15. Bent portion 14E (sometimes referred to as edge portion, or bentedge portion) may be perpendicular to a planar front portion such asfront portion 14F of display 14. However, this is merely illustrative.Bent portion 14E may be formed at any suitable angle with respect tofront portion 14F, front portion 14F may be substantially non-planar, orbent portion 14E may be a continuously curved portion that is wrappedaround a rounded end of a support structure.

Front portion 14F may be attached to a rigid carrier structure such ascarrier structure 32 using an adhesive layer such as layer 36. Adhesivelayer 36 may be formed from a pressure-sensitive adhesive, liquidadhesive, light-cured adhesive, high bond adhesive or other suitableadhesive material. Adhesive layer 36 may be formed on a first (inner)surface of front portion 14F. An opposing (outer) surface of frontportion 14F of display 14 may be covered by a cover layer such as coverlayer 30. Cover layer 30 may be formed from a rigid or flexibletransparent material such as plastic or glass. Cover layer 30 may besubstantially planar or may have a concave or convex shape.

Cover layer 30 may be attached to display 14 (e.g. using adhesive) ormay be mounted adjacent to display 14 without any attachments to display14. If desired, cover layer 30 may include a portion such as portion 31having lensing capabilities for correcting distortions in imagesgenerated by display pixels in portions of display 14 that are bent awayfrom cover layer 30.

Cover layer 30 may be attached to a housing member such as housingsidewall member 12S (sometimes referred to as a sidewall member, asidewall portion, a housing sidewall portion, or a band). Sidewallmember 12S may wrap around substantially all of an edge of device 10. Ifdesired, band 12S may include portions that extend onto a front surfaceof device 10. For example, a portion of band 12S may cover a portion ofcover layer 30. Internal components such as antennas, buttons, switches,speakers or other components may be mounted under band 12S. Openings maybe provided in band 12S to accommodate internal components.

Cover layer 30 may include a notch or recess for receiving band 12S.Band 12S may be formed from aluminum or any other suitable material.Device 10 may be enclosed by an enclosure formed from band 12S and arear housing member such as rear cover 12R. Rear cover 12R may be formedfrom a rigid material such as metal (e.g., aluminum). Carrier structure32 may be mounted against a support structure such as support structure34 (sometimes referred to herein as a mandrel). Mandrel 34 may include aprotruding portion such as portion 44 that mounted along an edge ofcarrier structure 32. Portion 44 may be mounted in contact with adisplay 14. As shown in FIG. 4, portion 44 of mandrel 34 may include afirst surface mounted in contact with front portion 14F of display 14and a second surface mounted in contact with bent edge portion 14E ofdisplay 14. Bent edge portion 14E may be bent around an edge of mandrel34. In an assembled device, bent edge portion 14E may be secured betweenmandrel 34 and a sidewall portion of band 12S.

Mandrel 34 may include openings 46 configured to receive attachmentmembers 40. Openings 46 may, for example, be threaded screw holes.Attachment members 40 may include screws, clips, or other attachmentmembers configured to be secured in openings 46. Band 12S may includeopenings such as holes 42. Holes 42 in band 12S may be aligned withholes 46 in mandrel 34. Bent edge portions 14E may be secured in a bentposition by securing attachment members 40 in openings 46 through holes42 and through bent edge portion 14E of display 14. In this way, band12S and bent edge portion 14E may be fastened to mandrel 34 by biasingband 12S toward mandrel 34 using fastening members 40.

Mandrel 34 may include extended portions 48 having openings. Openingssuch as holes in extended portions 48 may be aligned with additionalopenings 50 in band 12S. Attachment members 40 may be used to attachmandrel 34 to housing member 12S. During assembly of device 10, aligningopenings in portion 48 with openings 50 in band 12S may help in aligningdisplay 14 with cover layer 30. Openings 50 may, for example, bethreaded screw holes or other openings configured to engage withattachment members 40. Extended portions 48 may be used to provide afixed or adjustable alignment with band 12S.

Mandrel 34 may include openings such as openings 52 for receivingadditional attachment members 40. Attachment members 40 may be insertedthrough openings 52 to secure mandrel 34 to carrier 32. Mandrel 34 mayinclude an internal recess or cavity 56 for mounting internal componentsof device 10 (e.g., batteries, microprocessors, integrated circuits,speakers, etc.).

Rear housing member 12R may include openings such as holes 58. Holes 58may be aligned with some of openings 50 in band 12R. Attachment members40 may be used to attach rear cover 12R to band 12S through holes 58 andopenings 50. Openings 58 may include an inner portion that passesthrough rear housing member 12R and a relatively wider outer portionthat extends only partially into member 12R and is configured to receivea portion of attachment member 40. For example, a wider outer portion ofopenings 50 may receive a screw head of a screw 40 so that member 12Rmay be provided with a smooth exterior surface.

If desired, openings 42 in band 12S may include an inner portion thatpasses through band 12S and a relatively wider outer portion thatextends only partially into member 12S and is configured to receive aportion of attachment member 40. For example, a wider outer portion ofopenings 42 may receive a screw head of a screw 40 so that member 12Smay be provided with a smooth exterior surface.

As shown FIG. 5, following assembly, the structures of FIG. 4 may beconfigured to fasten (secure) edge portion 14E between mandrel 34 andband portion 12S of housing 12. Protruding portion 44 of mandrel 34 maybe mounted between an edge of carrier 32 and edge portion 14E of display14. Cross-sectional views of device 10 taken along axes 60 and 62 areshown in FIGS. 6 and 7 respectively.

As shown in FIG. 6, in some regions of device 10, mandrel 34 maysubstantially fill the space within the enclosure formed by portions 12Sand 12R of housing 12 between carrier 32 and rear portion 12R. FIG. 6also shows how bent portion 14E of display 14 may be wrapped around aportion of mandrel 34 having a bend radius R. Bend radius R may, forexample, be between 0.3 mm and 0.5 mm, between 0.1 and 0.9 mm, less than0.4 mm, or greater than or equal to 0.9 mm. The shape of protrudingportion 44 of mandrel 34 may be used to provide display 14 with a bendhaving a bend radius that is equal to the bend radius of portion 44 ofmandrel 34. If desired, active display pixels may be formed alongsubstantially all of front portion 14F of display 14 so that the edgeportion of device 10 (as viewed from the front) is minimized having awidth W. Width W may be determined by the size of engaging portions ofcover layer 30 and band portion 12S of housing 12. As examples, width Wmay be between 1.0 and 1.3 mm, equal to 1.25 mm, less than 1.4 mm, morethan 1.4 mm, less than 1.3 mm, less than 1.2 mm or less than 1.0 mm.

Cover layer 30 may include a notch 64 for receiving a correspondingnotch in band 12S. Band 12S may be attached to cover layer 30 (e.g., byforming adhesive such as a glue bead between notched portion 64 of coverlayer 30 and a corresponding notched portion of band 12S) or band 12Smay be abutted against cover layer 30 without any intervening adhesive.

Edge portion 14E of display 14 may include an inactive portion such asportion 78. Inactive portion 78 may be devoid of display pixels.Inactive portion 78 may include circuitry that does not emit light suchas conductive routing lines for routing display signals from displaycontrol circuitry in device 10 to the display pixels in active displayportions of display 14. Inactive portion 78 may include substantiallyall of bent portion 14E or some parts of bent portion 14E may includeactive display pixels.

As shown in FIG. 7, in some regions of device 10 (e.g., along axis 62 ofFIG. 5), mandrel 34 may be provided with a cavity 56. If desired, cavity56 in mandrel 34 may extend from carrier 32 to rear housing member 12Ror mandrel 34 may include portions such as portion 66 that extend alongan inner surface of carrier 32 and portions such as portion 68 thatextend along an inner surface of rear housing member 12R. Internalcomponents 70 may be mounted within cavity 56. As examples, internalcomponents 70 may be attached to rear housing member 12R or carrier 32.Internal components 70 may include batteries, microprocessors, speakers,integrated circuits, antennas, compasses, cameras, or other active orinactive components.

The configurations of device 10 shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are merelyillustrative. If desired, bent portions of display 14 may be fastened ina bent position using an internal fastening structure such as a clamp asshown in FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 8, in some configurations, cover layer30 may have a curved portion such as curved portion 30C. Bent portion14E of display 14 may be formed along an inner surface of cover layer 30so that bent portion 14E conforms to the curved shape of curved portion30C. Rear housing member 12R may include a curved portion 88, ifdesired. Curved portion 88 of rear housing member may be attached tocurved portion 30C of cover layer 30 (e.g., using an adhesive betweenportions 88 and 30C or by attaching portion 88 and portion 30C to anadditional housing member such as sidewall housing member 12S).

In the example of FIG. 8, mandrel 34 includes a rounded edge portion.Bent portion 14E of display 14 may be wrapped around the rounded edge ofmandrel 34. If desired, display 14 may be attached to mandrel 34 usingan adhesive layer 80. Adhesive layer 80 may include a pressure-sensitiveadhesive, a liquid adhesive, a light-cured adhesive, a high bondadhesive or any other suitable adhesive material. If desired, anadditional layer of adhesive such as layer 84 may be provided between anouter surface of display 14 and an inner surface of cover layer 30. Ifdesired, a portion of adhesive layer 84 may be formed between curvedportion 88 of housing member 12R and the outer surface of display 14.

As shown in FIG. 8, portion 85 of display 14 having display pixels mayinclude front portion 14F and part of bent portion 14E of display 14.Display pixels 85 in bent portion 14E may include active and inactivedisplay pixels. Portion 78 of display 14 may be devoid of active displaypixels.

Bent portion 14E of display 14 may be fastened to mandrel 34 using aninternal fastening structure such as clamp 72. Clamp 72 may be biasedagainst portion 14E of display 14 by a fastening member 76 (e.g., ascrew or a clip) that engages with engaging structures (e.g., threads,protrusions or other engaging structures) in openings 74 in mandrel 34.Clamp 72 may be provided with a recess such as recess 90 for receiving aportion of fastening member 76. For example, recess 90 may be configuredto receive a screw head associated with fastening member 76.

If desired, clamp 72 may be provided with a recess such as cavity 82.Internal components such as internal components 70 of FIG. 7 may bemounted within cavity 82.

Bent portions 14E of display 14 may be fastened to mandrel 34 with clamp72 using assembly equipment such as assembly equipment 92 of FIG. 9. Asshown in FIG. 9, assembly equipment 92 may include a fixed mountingmember such as member 94 and one or more movable pushing members 96.Pushing members 96 may include actuating members 98 for moving pushingmembers 96 against edge portions of display 14. For example, actuatingmembers 98 may be threaded screws that, when turned, provide a lateralforce that moves pushing members against display 14.

Fixed mounting member 94 may include curved features such as surfacecurve 97 having a shape that corresponds to the shape of the roundededges of mandrel 34. Pushing members 96 may each have curved featuressuch as surface curve 99 with a shape that corresponds to the shape ofthe rounded edges of mandrel 34. In this way, equipment 92 may beconfigured to conform edge portions 14E of display 14 to the roundededges of mandrel 34.

If desired, a cavity for receiving electronic components (e.g.,electronic components 70 of FIG. 7) may be formed in region 82 of clamp72 before or after attaching clamp 72 to support structure (mandrel) 34.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing how assembly equipment 92 may be used toconform and attach edge portions 14E of display 14 around the roundededges of mandrel 34. As shown in FIG. 10, clamp 72 may be positioned atoriginal position 100 with respect to fixed member 94 and pushing member96 may be positioned at original position 108 with respect to member 94.Display 14 may be attached to mandrel 34 in a substantially flatposition (e.g., using adhesive layer 80 of FIG. 8). If desired, display14 and mandrel 34 may include alignment marks 101A and 101B respectivelyfor aligning display 14 to mandrel 34.

Mandrel 34 and attached display 14 may be pressed against member 94 sothat curved surface 97 presses portions 14E of display 14 into position114. While mandrel 34 and attached display 14 are pressed against member94 and portion 14E is in position 114, pushing member 96 may be moved indirection 112 from position 108 to position 110, thereby pushing portion14E of display 14 in to position 116 as indicated by arrow 118.

After pushing member 96 is in position 110 and portion 14E of display 14is in position 116, clamp 72 may be moved in direction 106 from position100 to position 102. Moving clamp 72 in direction 106 from position 100to position 102 may press portion 14E of display 14 in to position 121against the inner surface of mandrel 34 as indicated by arrow 119. Whileclamp 72 is in position 102 and portion 14E of display 14 is held byclamp 72 in position 121, fastening member 76 may be engaged in opening74 of mandrel 34, thereby fastening bent edge portion 14E of display 14in bent position 121 against mandrel 34.

In the example of FIG. 10, fastening member 76 is implemented as a screwhaving threads 122 for engaging with engagement features such asthreading structures 120 in opening 74. However, this is merelyillustrative. Fastening member 76 may be engaged in opening 74 using anysuitable type of engagement feature.

Illustrative steps that may be used in assembling an electronic devicesuch as device 10 having bent edge portions 14E that are fastened inbent position 121 against mandrel 34 are shown in FIG. 11.

At step 140, a flexible display such as an OLED display may be attachedto a support structure such as a mandrel (e.g., using adhesive). Ifdesired, alignment marks may be used to align the display with themandrel.

At step 142, the mandrel and (attached) flexible display may be movedinto contact with a fixed mounting member such as a display shapingstructure. Moving the mandrel and flexible display into contact with thefixed mounting member may cause portions of the flexible display such asedge portions of the flexible display to be partially wrapped around themandrel.

At step 144, pushing members such as edge pushing members may be movedagainst the (partially wrapped) edges of the flexible display. Movingthe pushing members against the edge portions of the flexible displaymay cause the edge portions to be further wrapped into a position undera clamp that is to be used for fastening the edge portions to themandrel.

At step 146, the clamp may be moved toward the mandrel and (attached)flexible display. Moving the clamp toward the mandrel and (attached)flexible display may press the edge portions of the flexible displayagainst a surface of the mandrel.

At step 148, the clamp may be attached to the mandrel. The clamp may beattached to the mandrel using fastening members such as screws thatengage in openings in the mandrel. The fastening members may, ifdesired, pass through openings in the edge portions of the flexibledisplay.

At step 150, a display assembly having a mandrel, a clamp, and aflexible display with bent edge portions fastened to the mandrel usingthe clamp may be inserted into a housing enclosure for the electronicdevice. The housing enclosure may include one or more housing members.The mandrel and/or the clamp may include alignment structures such asopenings for attachment members that help in aligning the display withthe housing member. Inserting an assembled display assembly having aflexible display with fastened bent edges may help in assembling device10 without placing unwanted stress on additional device components suchas housing members.

At step 152, a display cover layer such as a cover glass layer may beattached to the housing enclosure over the display.

FIG. 12 shows how a bent portion such as bent portion 14E of flexibledisplay 14 that is fastened between a housing member such as member 12Sand an internal support member such as fastening support member 153 mayconform to the shape of a curved portion of fastening support member153. Curved portion 154 of member 153 may have a bend radius R. Display14 may be wrapped around support members 151 and 153 so that bent edgeportion 14E conforms to the shape of member 153 and planar supportmember 151. Member 153 may, for example, be a mandrel such as mandrel 34(FIG. 4). Member 151 may, for example, be a carrier structure such ascarrier 32.

FIG. 13 shows how bent edge portion 14E of display 14 may be fastenedbetween a housing member such as member 12S and two or more internalsupport members such as support members 156 and 158. In the example ofFIG. 13, support member 156 and 158 meet at an interface formed alongbent portion 14E of display 14. In this type of configuration, planarfront portion 14F of display 14 may be attached to an internal supportstructure such as member 156 having a curved portion 159 with a bendradius R. Display 14 may be wrapped around support members 156 and 158so that bent edge portion 14E conforms to the shape of member 156 andsupport member 158. Member 158 may, for example, be a mandrel such asmandrel 34 (FIG. 4). Member 156 may, for example, be a carrier structuresuch as carrier 32.

FIG. 14 shows how bent edge portion 14E of display 14 may be fastenedbetween a housing member such as member 12S and an internal supportmember such as support member 162 that forms, in combination with anadditional internal support member such as member 160, a surface havinga bend radius R. Bent edge portion 14E may be wrapped around members 160and 162 so that display 14 conforms to the surface of curved portion 164of member 160 and curved portion 166 of member 162. Member 162 may, forexample, be a mandrel such as mandrel 34 (FIG. 4). Member 160 may, forexample, be a carrier structure such as carrier 32.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this inventionand various modifications can be made by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device having opposing front andrear exterior surfaces, comprising: a housing having a curved sidewallbetween the front and rear exterior surfaces; a transparent cover layermounted to the housing, the transparent cover layer having a planarportion that forms at least part of the front exterior surface; an arrayof pixels that displays images through the transparent cover layer; asubstrate on which the array of pixels is located; and a support layerin the housing, wherein the substrate bends around the support layer. 2.The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the support layer isplanar.
 3. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein thesubstrate is adhered to the support layer.
 4. The electronic devicedefined in claim 1 wherein the support layer has upper and lowersurfaces and wherein the substrate is attached to the upper and lowersurfaces.
 5. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein thetransparent cover layer comprises a curved portion.
 6. The electronicdevice defined in claim 5 wherein the array of pixels displays theimages through the curved portion of the transparent cover layer.
 7. Theelectronic device defined in claim 6 wherein the substrate has a bentportion and wherein some of the pixels in the array of pixels arelocated on the bent portion.
 8. The electronic device defined in claim 5wherein the curved portion is adjacent to the curved sidewall.
 9. Theelectronic device defined in claim 8 wherein the curved sidewallcomprises metal.
 10. The electronic device defined in claim 1 whereinthe transparent cover layer comprises a first layer of glass and thehousing comprises a second layer of glass that forms at least part ofthe rear exterior surface.
 11. An electronic device, comprising: ahousing having a curved sidewall; a display cover layer that forms anexterior surface of the electronic device, wherein the display coverlayer has a planar portion and a curved edge portion that is adjacent tothe curved sidewall; a support layer in the housing; and a display layerthat displays images through planar portion and the curved edge portionof the display cover layer, wherein the display layer bends behind thesupport layer.
 12. The electronic device defined in claim 11 wherein thesupport layer comprises a planar support layer having a planar edgesurface.
 13. The electronic device defined in claim 12 wherein thedisplay layer has a bent portion that bends behind the support layer andwherein the planar edge surface faces the bent portion.
 14. Theelectronic device defined in claim 11 wherein the display layercomprises a substrate having a curved portion and includes pixels on thecurved portion.
 15. The electronic device defined in claim 11 whereinthe display cover layer comprises glass and the curved sidewallcomprises metal.
 16. An electronic device, comprising: a substratehaving first and second portions joined by a first curved portion; anarray of pixels on the substrate; a support layer interposed between thefirst and second portions; a display cover layer through which the arrayof pixels displays images, wherein the display cover layer has a secondcurved portion; and adhesive interposed between the first and secondcurved portions.
 17. The electronic device defined in claim 16 whereinthe support layer has upper and lower surfaces and wherein the adhesiveattaches the first portion to the upper surface and the second portionto the lower surface.
 18. The electronic device defined in claim 16wherein some of the pixels in the array of pixels are located on thefirst curved portion.
 19. The electronic device defined in claim 16further comprising a curved metal sidewall, wherein the second curvedportion is mounted to the curved metal sidewall.
 20. The electronicdevice defined in claim 19 wherein the display cover layer comprisesglass.